Nevada drivers could use a crash course in safe driving

Nevada drivers need to get serious about safe driving.

Crashes are up in Clark County and across the state, partly due to the ongoing increase in new residents and visitors.

But we, the folks behind the wheel, need to take a little more responsibility for how we behave. That means no drinking or texting while driving, obeying the speed limit and sharing the road with pedestrians and bicyclists.

Preliminary figures released this month by the Nevada Department of Transportation show 200 crashes were reported in Clark County last year, a 3 percent increase from 2015. There were also 216 traffic-related fatalities countywide in 2016, up from 210 deaths during the previous year.

Across Nevada, 302 crashes were reported last year, up from 297 in 2015, NDOT officials said. The number of fatalities increased by one person, making for 327 traffic-related deaths last year — approaching one per day.

So what’s being done to reverse that trend?

NDOT started a program 11 years ago known as Zero Fatalities, which aims for eliminating death on the state’s roads.

Zero might be an unreachable number, but the agency’s more immediate goal is to see yearly declines, reaching 195 fatalities by 2030, NDOT spokesman Tony Illia said. That’s exactly half of the 390 traffic-related fatalities reported in 2008. Encouraging drivers to obey the current rules of the road is only part of the equation.

State lawmakers are mulling several new laws geared toward improving safety during the legislative session that begins next month, said Erin Breen, head of the Vulnerable Road Users Project at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

“People are already speeding, but then you factor in the person who’s also distracted while talking to someone on the phone,” Breen said. “It’s a dangerous mix, but it comes down to personal responsibility. We can talk until we’re blue in the face, but unfortunately drivers never think they will be in an accident.”

Breen predicted several transportation safety bills that likely will come up for debate this year in Carson City.

First, lawmakers might consider whether to increase fines for all drivers who hold their phones during calls and texts. For now, the fine is $50 for a first offense, $100 for a second offense and $250 for a third offense, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Another potential bill might ban drivers younger than 18 from using a Bluetooth or other hands-free devices while driving.

A primary seat belt law could come into play, allowing law enforcement officers to cite motorists solely for not wearing a seat belt. For now, Nevada is among a handful of states that have a secondary seat belt law, where officers can issue a ticket for not wearing a seat belt only when there is another citable traffic offense, such as speeding.

A change might also come with child safety seat laws. For now, children younger than 6 or weighing less than 60 pounds are required to use a safety seat in the car. Breen said lawmakers could consider a measure that would require kids to use safety seats if they are shorter than 4-foot-9 and weigh less than 80 pounds, regardless of age.

And, now that Nevada voters agreed to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, state legislators must figure out how to determine impairment levels and potential penalties.

“The fact that we can’t define what is considered ‘impaired’ when you’re smoking dope while driving defies logic,” Breen said. “We need people to understand that laws aren’t meant to inconvenience you. They’re there to save your life.”

PARKWAY IMPROVEMENTS

Take a drive down Summerlin Parkway and you’ll see several new features, including a system of cables that will keep drivers from merging into the median. New lanes also are being added in several areas to keep traffic moving.

Nicholas from Las Vegas lauded the new cable median but wanted to know what was being done to keep westbound drivers from veering off the parkway and heading into the Kellogg Zaher Soccer Complex near the Buffalo Drive exit.

“Just as a car could fly over the median into oncoming traffic, it could do the same into the park,” Nicholas wrote in an email to the Road Warrior. “Are there any plans to put that cable system along the north side of Summerlin Parkway to protect the park?”

Not exactly, Nicholas, but Las Vegas city officials are thinking ahead. Designs are underway for a new bicycle and pedestrian bridge that would run over Summerlin Parkway, city spokeswoman Margaret Kurtz said.

That plan, Kurtz said, also calls for building a concrete barrier rail along the north side of the parkway adjacent to a portion of the sports complex.

SPEEDY CHEYENNE

Michael from Las Vegas said he was concerned about cars driving a little fast on Cheyenne Boulevard, noting that the posted 50 mph speed limit is too high between Rancho Drive and Losee Road.

After studying this stretch of road in 2013, NDOT officials conferred with North Las Vegas police, city engineers and state safety officials, who all agreed to maintain the 50 mph speed limit, NDOT spokesman Tony Illia said.

“A speed survey found that 85 percent of traffic moving through the corridor do so at that speed or slightly higher,” Illia said. “The character of this corridor has not changed significantly since this study; as such, there is no justification for conducting a new study at this time.”

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